


with you

by mrspotatohead



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Birthday, Cute Teddy Lupin, Dead People, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Ghosts, Harry Potter Next Generation, Harry Potter References, Magic, Other, Sad, Sad Harry Potter, Unforgivable Curses (Harry Potter), Universe Alteration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 06:53:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4994512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrspotatohead/pseuds/mrspotatohead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry kept the Resurrection Stone, so that on Teddy Lupin's 17th birthday, he could finally meet the parents he never knew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	with you

"So, Harry, what'd you get me? I'm seventeen now, it's a big year, you know!" Teddy Lupin looked down at his godfather excitedly, having grown at least 3 inches taller than him over the past few months. A cheeky grin was playing on his mouth, his pale eyes widened with anticipation as he bounced on the balls of his feet expectantly.  

"I know, Ted, so calm down and you'll see what is is." Harry couldn't help but laugh fondly at the lanky, blue-haired kid that he'd come to love as one of his own. They'd left the cheerful birthday festivities in the living room, and were now sitting in the small, secluded office space that Harry did most of his Auror work in whilst he was home. It was a handsome room, a large chestnut coloured desk, long red curtains draped over the frosted windows, a small black fireplace burned with a viciously warm, comforting glow. 

They sat down on the deep red velvet chairs overlooking the cozy inferno, and a short yet relaxing silence settled over them.

In truth, Harry was nervous. He knew the topic of Teddy's deceased parents was a sore one for his orphaned godson, and as he glanced at the younger boy, a swell of pity knotted deep within his chest. He, more than anyone, knew what it was like to grow up in a world without a mother or a father, and it was definitely no picnic. 

"So, what is it?" Teddy prompted, the hopeful, animated expression on his face had returned. "Is it a new broom? There's this new one I've been after, actual -"

"Sorry, kiddo, it isn't a new broom," The older man grinned ruefully but quickly became serious, and then took a deep breath, as if about to plunge into an ice cold pond. "This is about your parents. Remus and Tonks Lupin." 

Harry noticed the immediate effect this had on the teenager, his shoulders sagged, his brow furrowed only slightly. Something flickered in his eyes, and Harry knew it was a raw, unique kind of pain that not everybody experiences in a lifetime. His heart gave a worried jolt. 

Another silence. The fire crackled lowly, a backdrop to the quiet scene. The wind whistled outside, a high pitched moaning that punctuated every two minutes, as if begging for attention from someone, anyone. 

"Well - what about them?" Teddy coughed, trying to meet his godfathers steady gaze, and it took all Harry had in him not to just embrace the other boy in a tight, reassuring hug. He hadn't realized exactly how difficult this would be. 

"I want you to see them," The words hung in the air for a few moments, as Teddy registered them slowly, his eyes dulled considerably. 

"I, I have seen them, Harry. I've got loads of pictures, you know." The reply was almost a whisper, soft and fragile. Harry's heart stuttered at the simple innocent words, and he felt the cold, dark empathy he had always harbored for Teddy surface; running through his veins, pounding in his heart. 

"I should have rephrased that, I meant - " Harry took another deep breath, the tension growing at every passing moment "I meant I want you to - to meet them." 

The longest silence yet followed, and Harry watched the seventeen year old carefully with concern. The boy was wringing his hands together now, his naturally pale skin almost translucent, his ultramarine hair which could, of course change colour at will, tinged at the ends with an unsettling dark orange. 

"Is this some kind of joke, a prank? Cause it's not very funny," Teddy's voice was cold as he frowned, standing up to head towards the door, his cheeks flushed a deep shade of ruby, but Harry immediately grabbed his forearm, stung that the kid thought he'd play a prank like _this._

 _"_ Hey, hey - Teddy! I'm serious. Look, I have this stone, and it lets you bring back loved ones from the dead! It's part of the Deathly Hallows - oh, I'll explain it all later, but basically it lets you bring back those who have passed on," Harry rushed to explain, begging him to understand, a soft pleading note under each word. He saw the tears in Teddy's eyes way before they fell, and he reached out to press a comforting hand onto his godson's shoulder. 

They sat back down, Teddy wiping his eyes furiously, Harry reaching into his pocket for the only Stone in the world that could do the impossible. 

He placed it on the wooden table in front of them gently, and they both just stared at in for a few minutes, the ticking of the clock almost unbearable, grating on Harry's nerves. 

"If you've had this, my entire life, why, _why_ did you let me grow up as an orphan?" Teddy was the first one to speak, and Harry heard the crack in his voice, the shakiness of his tone. 

The question felt like a slap in the face, but the older man had been expecting it. Death was a hard thing to understand, Harry had seen it countless times, and even he didn't really completely get it -  he doubted he ever would. 

"It doesn't work like that, Ted." He paused, thinking about how to word it. "When they come back, they're not exactly the same as they were before they died. If they stay here for too long, they become sad, unresponsive, because they're not _meant_ to be here. They're meant to be dead, not on this earth, see." Harry was doing everything in his might to be tactful, and soft. He needed his godson to understand. 

"Oh," Teddy sighed, as a look of comprehension dawned on his face, his hair falling over his eyes as he glared down at his knees, actively avoiding any sort of eye contact. 

"I just thought you might like to say a proper goodbye," Harry added, pushing the Stone towards the teenager. Teddy picked it up instantly and studied it with a look of immense concentration, his jaw set determinedly. "But, you don't have to." 

"No, no - " Teddy stuttered, "I want to, more than anything, but, well - " he stopped talking, jamming his mouth shut as his the tips of his hair burned an even brighter shade of orange. 

"What is it?" Harry asked, curious now as he observed his godson. 

"What if i'm not what they expected me to be?" Teddy's hands were shaking. "I'm not that good of a student, and I'm not really a remarkable wizard, what if I've _disappointed_ them?" 

"How can you think that? Listen, they'd be happy to see you even if you were a Squib. I knew your parents, and they were good, brave people, and they _loved_ you." Harry replied harshly, trying to make the kid understand. He didn't want him to be scared of his own parents, he didn't want this to go so utterly wrong. 

"Okay, right. " Teddy nodded vigorously, apparently determined now, and Harry knew the kid had made up his mind. "Will you stay with me, please?" 

"Always," He agreed immediately.  

The taller boy looked down at the Stone, and closed his eyes, trying to steady his nerves. He turned it over three times, his heart hammering in his chest. Harry watched as they materialized, and when his godson opened his eyes once more, Remus and Tonks Lupin were standing right in front of them, smiling serenely and holding hands, as if they'd never even left. 

They were more than ghosts, that much was clear. They were solid, but they looked almost washed out, delicate, as if they'd been frayed around the edges. Almost like a projection on a screen, they were definitely there, just slightly faded, kind of like a shadow of who they once were. It was a sobering sight, even for Harry. 

"Teddy," Remus spoke, his voice echoing and distant but with the same warm, friendly note it had held when he was alive.  "And Harry," He nodded at his old friend, and it almost felt like Harry was a kid again, learning how to produce an adequate Patronus. His heart numbed at the memory, and he felt tears rush to his own eyes, warm and salty. 

"Dad?" The young boy's voice was unsure, nervous. 

"It's me, son." Remus gave a quick, half-smile, one of his hands tucked casually in the pocket of his robes. 

"Hey, what about me? Didn't you miss me, Ted?" Tonks spoke up suddenly, a humorous note in her voice, a grin on her subtle, light face. She was almost exactly like Harry remembered, but her hair was now a brilliant shade of lilac, flowing behind her shoulders, right down to her waist. She seemed to almost glow, not unlike an angel. 

"Of course, I - I missed both of you, I've heard so much about you," About half of the hair on Teddy's head was now a distressed orange, but he was smiling through an avalanche of tears. "About how brave you were, how kind, how talented - " 

"And it's all true!" Tonks winked cheekily, and the likeness between the mother and her child was suddenly startling, hitting Harry like a truck. 

She walked towards her son, her feet making no noise on the dark marble flooring, and rested a consoling hand on his flushed cheek. They stood like that for a while, and Remus watched, his chest puffed out in an obviously proud, quiet way. They looked almost like any other Wizarding family - almost. 

"Thank you for this, Harry," Remus sounded grateful when he spoke, his voice much clearer than before. "I've wanted to meet him for so long, of course."  

"It's no problem, no problem at all," Harry looked up into his companion's face, it was a little disconcerting to see him after all this time. "You've been okay, since the war, since everything?" Harry supposed it was a dumb question, of course they weren't okay - they were dead. 

"Yes, yes, I assure you it's extremely peaceful, and I'm happy with the way I died, fighting for the right cause - my one regret was of course, never getting to raise Teddy." Lupin tilted his head, looking at his son, who was still embracing Tonks harshly. Teddy was gripping her so tight, as if he thought she might blow away in the wind or disappear into the fire. 

Harry felt his throat close up, so he just nodded understandingly, physically unable to speak. 

"You understand, son, why we had to do it?" He spoke directly to the teenager now, taking a few silent steps forward, as the kid finally let his mother go. She stood back, admiring her husband and son as they interacted. 

"Do what?" Teddy responded, quirking an eyebrow at his father. 

"Why we had to leave you that night, why we had to fight, why he had to sacrifice ourselves in the Battle Of Hogwarts," Remus was patient as he explained what he meant. 

"Yes, absolutely, I - I would have done the same thing, it was necessary." Teddy was quick to reassure his father, who breathed out heavily as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Harry felt a burst of pride at how maturely Teddy had handled the question, sometimes it was hard to believe he was just seventeen, practically a child.

"That's all I needed to here," Lupin himself was now teary eyed too, as he quickly pulled his son into a hug, and Harry couldn't help but grin, no matter how bittersweet the situation was, the family was totally and completely reunited in that moment. Teddy pulled back slightly, and held out a beckoning arm to Harry, as if to invite him into the family embrace. 

He accepted, stumbling into their arms with a silent gratitude, and though they couldn't exactly feel Tonks and Remus, their strong presence was enough. It felt like the barriers between life and death had been bent within those few, precious moments, and Harry knew he'd done the right thing giving Teddy the Stone, knew it had changed his life forever.

Eventually they pulled apart, and stared at each other, all of them sobbing now, though laughing at the same time, an extremely peculiar feeling.  

"We can't stay, I trust you know that," Tonks' voice was motherly and warm, and it caught Harry off guard a little. While she was alive, she'd never really sounded like that, although things were different now, very different, so it only made sense her voice would be too. 

"I know," Teddy sniffed, biting at his nails anxiously. "I wish you could, both of you - " He took in his parents, looking up at his kind-faced father and his bright, outgoing mother. 

"You'll see us again, Teddy." Remus sounded very sure of this, "It may not be soon, it may not be in the way you expect - but you will see us once more." 

"But, but why can't you just stay like this? Just, not go back?" The seventeen year old sounded desperate now, and Harry's heart hurt for him, a pain shooting right through it.

"It won't be the same, baby." Tonks whispered, looking into her child's eyes, her hazel ones glowing slightly. "We've been here, with you, in your mind, in your soul, in your very heart, for the past seventeen years, and we will continue to be so," She sighed, as if tired. "Until we meet again," she added almost as an afterthought. 

Harry stepped back as the three embraced once more, muttering unknown words to each other, probably "I love you," "I'll miss you," "We're going to watch over you,". 

They broke apart again, and Harry gently tugged Teddy away from them, and he felt how hard the younger kid was shaking, his eyes glistening and dejected, his cheeks tear stained.

Within an instant, Tonks and Remus were gone once more.

It was just the two of them again, a godfather and his godson, both of them crying, both of them lost in their own thoughts. The barrier between life and death was now firmly shut again, sealed off until another time, another meeting. 

"Thank you, Harry," Teddy's voice was rough now, and it had a grit to it that the older man had never heard before, "Thank you for that," Harry could tell he was highly sincere. 

He just nodded, and watched calmly as his godson left the room, before turning back to the subdued fire, his conscious soothed at what he had just done, the scene that had just taken place.

He felt overwhelmingly at peace, for Teddy, for Remus and Tonks, and for himself.  

**Author's Note:**

> idk if this sucks it probs does it's probably rly inaccurate too but i just wanted to write it so hope you enjoyed!!


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